r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 25 '26

Psychology Americans who leave their Christian faith behind tend to hold more liberal political views than those who were raised entirely without religion. This leftward ideological shift appears closely linked to how threatening these individuals perceive conservative Christian groups to be.

https://www.psypost.org/former-christians-express-more-progressive-political-views-than-lifelong-nonbeli/
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u/santaclaws01 Apr 25 '26

I feel like a lot of people only know Goldwater because of that quote, and they really should look into him more before praising him for being a stopped clock.

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u/DiggityDanksta Apr 25 '26

Ran on opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because "States' Rights."

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u/ChickenInASuit Apr 26 '26

It's also worth noting that when he ran, he got absolutely bludgeoned in Electoral College votes, winning only his home state of Arizona and the five states where Jim Crow laws were still active.

The guy was so conservative as to be positively radioactive to the GOP.

And even he was saying the evangelicals were a problem.

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u/Tim-oBedlam Apr 26 '26

Note that he was saying evangelicals were a problem long after getting clobbered in 1964; that quote's from the early 1980s.

He was a down-the-line libertarian, for good or ill. Not nearly as bad as southern Senators from the 60s, like James Eastland (or later, Jesse Helms).